Hellsing - Blood Heritage

"Oh, no way. I am NOT wearing that thing."

Walter looked at the black...thing in his hand with an appraising eye. "Come now, Miss Newsom. I think it's rather fetching."

"Fetching my ass." Syn muttered. "It's a bloody dress. Where the hell am I supposed to put my gun?"

"Buckingham palace has excellent security measures in place." the butler informed. "You won't need a weapon." He cast a curious look at her. "I don't understand why you're so objectionable to this. You were previously employed at a nightclub, yes?"

"As a DJ." she said through gritted teeth. "I don't wear dresses."

Walter laid the dress across her bed, then turned to her with his hands on his hips. "It is a formal event, Miss. You are expected to attend. A lady does not attend a formal event without a dress, so I'm afraid you have little choice in the matter." He held up a pair of black heels. "You're to wear these as well."

Syn stared up at the ceiling. Heels, she could manage. It was that horrid piece of black cloth masquerading as a dress she had a problem with. But there was little she could do about it, so she had no option but to surrender.

"Fine." she said finally, snatching the shoes from him. "But if I hear one comment from ANYONE, I'm reminding them that this was not my idea."

"Of course, Miss Newsom." he replied with a smile and a bow. He stepped out of the room to allow her to get dressed.

The Queen was hosting a Summer Ball, and Hellsing was expected to be in attendance. Upon receiving the announcement, Integra had seen fit to inform Syn that she would be coming with them. Them being the two vampires and the knight herself. Just why Alucard and Seras were allowed to attend a social function with the other knights was beyond her. She hadn't had time to ask with all the running around that had been going on. Seras, who was positively thrilled at the thought of attending a royal ball, had dragged Syn all over existence to 'girlify' her.

First was the shopping expedition in London to get make-up and odds and ends for her hair. Then the young vampire had forced her to endure the torture of a manicure AND a pedicure - complete with French tips. Syn sighed and looked down at her nails. Seras, in a rare show of vampiric scare tactics, had threatened to eviscerate her alive if she caught her chewing on them. As much as she hated to admit it, they did look nice...but she was still going to gnaw the hell out of them once this was over.

"I better be getting paid for this." she muttered to herself. She grabbed the dress and the shoes, then headed into the bathroom to get ready.

She did her hair and makeup before slipping the dress over her head. Syn frowned at her reflection in the mirror. The back of the dress was entirely too low - exposing most of her back, as well as the scar above her hip. It looked horrible against the elegance of the dress, and made her feel exposed and vulnerable. The front of the thing wasn't much better. It couldn't be called obscene by any means, but for a woman who never revealed more than her head and hands, it was like being naked. Letting out another deep sigh, she leaned down to slip on her heels.

"Ooohh.... Mistress is so pretty!"

Syn shot up upright. Lasher was smiling at her from the mirror.

"What the hell are you doing in there?" she demanded. "Go back to your gun!"

"Lasher gets so bored staying in his gun all the time...." he said with a pout. His expression quickly turned excited. "Why is you dressed up so nice? Are we going somewhere?"

"No, we aren't going anywhere. I am going to a party at the Queen's palace with Sir Integra. You have to stay home."

Lasher deflated and made a sad face. "But Mistress.... it's soooo booorrriiinnggg...."

Syn narrowed her eyes at the boy. "I said no Lasher."

"You're no fun." he said dejectedly as he propped himself up on his elbows. In another of his whiplash inducing mood swings, he blinked at her in curiosity. "What kind of party? Is the scary man and the cute girl going too?"

Syn huffed and went back to putting on her shoes. "It's Alucard and Seras. And yes, they're going too."

Lasher giggled at her. "I knew it! You're going on a date with the scary man aren't you!"

Once again, Syn shot up and glared at the mirror. "It is NOT a date! Sir Integra and Seras will be there too, and Alucard has to go. There is nothing 'date-ish' about it."

He gave her a huge, sappy looking grin. "You like him! Lasher knows his Mistress. Mistress wants to have the scary man's little black haired babies!!!!"

"LASHER!!!" she shouted. "Get the HELL out of my mirror before I hurt you!"

The boy's big green eyes went wide in fear, then he vanished.

Syn stomped out of the bathroom just as Walter rushed through her door. He had his wires pulled in anticipation of a fight.

"Are you alright Miss?" he asked, casting a concerned look over her. "I heard you shout..."

"I'm perfectly fine Walter." Syn replied, feigning ignorance of why he had come in. "You must have been mistaken."

Walter examined the room, looking completely befuddled. "Yes... I suppose I was..." He turned and headed for the door, shaking his head in confusion. "I could have sworn I heard someone else...."

Syn shot a glare back at the bathroom to make sure Lasher was really gone before heading downstairs to wait for the others.

Seras was alone in the foyer when she arrived. She was a picture of girlish innocence in her pale lavender dress. Syn always found it amazing how the police girl was able to retain that human quality, even when she was fighting. She smiled the moment she saw Syn.

"Wow! You look so good! You haven't been chewing on your nails have you?" She narrowed her eyes at Syn's hands.

She held up her fingers for the vampire's inspection. "No mother." she said with a sigh. She glanced up at the staircase leading up to the second floor of the manor. "Sir Integra is still getting ready?"

"Yeah." the police girl replied. "I think Master's up there annoying the mess out of her."

Syn nodded sympathetically, although deep down, she was glad he had chosen to mess with Integra instead of popping in while she had been getting dressed.

The revelation of her family's involvement in the creation of Alucard's seals - and how they got him to cooperate, had caused Syn and the Hellsing family's master vampire to enter into a...rather weird relationship. The journals from her uncle's house had revealed a great deal of additional information about him. Experiments using chemical compounds derived from Victor's blood were used to give Alucard his considerable power - as well as an immunity to the poison. Which meant that he was the only vampire in existence who could drink from her and not drop dead.

'Of course it would be HIM.' she had mused upon discovering the tidbit. 'It just wouldn't do for Alucard to actually have a weakness.'

The night after she had recovered Victor's notes, he had appeared in her room as she was reading. She had been so caught up in the wealth of information at her fingertips, she hadn't even noticed his presence until he tugged the book out of her hands and practically laid down in her lap.

"Why do you insist on reading when you could gain the same information from me?"

Syn glowered down at him. "Why should I ask you anything? You could feed me a string of lies and I would never know it." She attempted to snatch the book away from him.

He easily pulled it out of her reach. "Such a clever girl..." he purred. "Yet I hardly have a reason to lie to you. I'm already going to get what I want."

"I'm painfully aware of that, thank you." she replied. "But I would still rather read about it, if you don't mind."

She got her fingers around the spine of the book and tugged, but Alucard refused to release it.

"Ah ah." he said with an infernal chuckle. "Ask nicely."

Syn closed her eyes and ground her teeth together. "Oh great and all powerful lord of darkness, may I please have my book back?"

He laughed in amusement and sat up, but didn't let go. "Give me something, and perhaps you may."

She opened one eye. "What do you want?"

"A kiss."

The other eye flew open. "You cannot be serious."

"I'm very serious." he replied, eyes sparkling. "A kiss, or your blood. It is your choice."

'Some choice.' she grumbled internally. She glared at him as she considered her options. Letting him bite her wasn't the most attractive idea in the world, but he had learned all of her triggers, and kissing him would lead to things she wasn't prepared to deal with just yet. She decided to go with the lesser of two evils. She thrust her arm out to him.

Alucard quirked a brow. "You choose blood over your virtue?"

"Blood can be replaced." she snapped in irritation.

His smirk widened. "A fact for which I am exceedingly grateful."

He took her arm and gently turned it over to reveal her wrist. Alucard pressed his lips against her pulse before locking eyes with her and sinking in his fangs. Syn's eyes fluttered. There was the first shock of pain, and then it was swept away by a rush of pleasant sensations. 'Maybe I should have kissed him...' she thought to herself. She could feel her life force being pulled away and into him. It was a thousand times more intimate than a kiss could have been. She was breathless when he finally pulled away.

He ran a gloved finger down the line of her nose. "For being such a good girl, I'll grant your request."

He set the book in her lap and disappeared into a swirling tangle of shadows.

From then on, the two of them played a game that only Alucard knew the rules to. Syn had the impression that she was a mouse - and Alucard was a stalking cat, playing with her until he grew tired of the game and decided to pounce. Thankfully, he was still interested in playing. But she wasn't foolish enough to believe it would last forever. She was only glad that the no life king was allowing her enough dignity to prepare herself for the 'pounce'.

Seras poked her in the ribs. "Time to go."

She looked up. Integra walked regally down the staircase, though Syn could see she was about as happy about wearing a dress as she was. A large black dog trotted along beside her, looking quite dejected. Syn quirked a brow at the sight, but didn't comment. Integra put Walter in charge of the house, then the three of them walked out to the car waiting out front - the dog trailing behind them.

"Don't you dare make an ass of yourself Alucard." she admonished the canine once they were seated in the car. "I haven't forgotten the punch incident last year."

The dog whined and laid it's head in her lap. Syn and Seras exchanged a mutual look of amusement. The one time Alucard could be said to look 'cute' was when he pouted as a dog.

The ballroom of Buckingham palace was exquisitely decorated. There was music playing and people everywhere when they arrived. Alucard took it upon himself to disappear before they entered the ballroom proper - as it would be most unseemly for a dog to appear at a party hosted by Her Majesty. Syn wondered briefly where he had gone off to, but the question was pushed to the back of her mind as Integra led her around the room, introducing her to the various other members of the Round Table conference. Most of the men regarded Integra with a cool destain - having respect for her position, but obviously not liking the fact that she was a woman. When Syn was introduced as Hellsing's munitions expert, they looked at her with a mixture of surprise and ill-placed curiosity. (a woman who plays with guns is obviously an odd character.) The only two men whom Syn could find any semblance of respect for were Sir Irons and Sir Pentwood. They were the only two who addressed Sir Integra with any degree of personal respect, and the only ones who treated Seras like a person instead of a freak. Sir Pentwood seemed a kind enough fellow, if not a bit skittish; while Sir Irons, the head of the Round Table conference, exuded a quiet authority that demanded everyone's attention. Syn wasn't particularly surprised to discover that they had been close friends of Integra's father Arthur.

She was discreetly listening in on a conversation Integra was having with the two men - something about a disturbance in Northern Ireland - when she heard Alucard's voice at her ear.

"Eavesdropping isn't very polite, my dear."

Syn started in surprise, but Alucard's arm slipping around her middle kept her from whipping around to face him.

"Be careful Syn." he cooed softly, where only she could hear. "We are surrounded by politicians and nobles. It wouldn't do for us to cause a scene, now would it?"

She turned her head slightly, so she could look at him. "You're the one trying to give me a heart attack." she accused. "And I'm not eavesdropping. I'm...." at his arched brow, she sighed. "Well, okay, I was eavesdropping. But there's nothing else to do. I don't know what people do at these.... things."

"Hmm..." He glanced around a moment, as if searching for something to cure her bordem. His eyes landed on the main floor, and he grinned. "Do you dance?"

Syn's eyes widened. "Ballroom dancing? No way. I don't know how..."

"Nonsense." he scoffed. "Anyone can dance if they have a strong enough leader." He released his hold on her and bowed gracefully, extending his arm out in invitation. "Dance with me." At her look of trepidation, he added, "I will accept no refusal."

Syn wanted to say no. But there was something about his sudden show of elegance and grace that drew her in. There was a moment of hesitation, and then, slowly, she reached out and took his hand.

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Unbeknownst to the rest of the guests, a pair of men were watching the scene unfold from their position across the room. If anyone where to actually study them, they would be quite unextraordinary. A short, slightly portly gentleman with well groomed blonde hair, and his companion - also blonde, though much taller and thinner. Both wore suits of neutral tones and glasses that reflected the light away from their eyes. When they conversed quietly amongst themselves, one could pick up a German accent. But of course, no one noticed any of these things, because these men were not important enough to be noticed.

"It vould appear, my good doktor, that our agent vas correct in his appraisal of the situation..." The shorter man commented. "Ah, how very alike ve are - both courting after the very things that vill destroy us." His golden colored eyes lit up at the sight before him. "The pretty frauline vill not be tamed, but the volf has caught the scent und is enraptured by the persuit. Vhat a vonderous chase!"

The taller gentleman coughed expectantly. "Is this to your liking then, Herr Major?"

"Doktor, I believe this is the perfect subject to complete our newest project, ja? The perfect compliment."

"It vill be difficult." the 'doktor' replied. "The blood types are so different..."

The portly man scoffed at him. "I have faith in your abilities. You can do anything! No, ve must proceed as planned. Ve shall set our experiments into motion vith this new information from our agent. Und ve vill see how much vork ve haff left to do."